Medical Definition of Lock and key models
1.
Specific recognition in biological systems might be mediated through interactions that depend upon very precise steric matching between receptor and ligand or between enzyme and substrate. The commonly used analogy is between lock and key and implies a precise sterically determined interaction.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Lock And Key Models
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